THE TRUTH ABOUT THE OIL SPILL

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."- Margaret Mead

This turtle cannot speak up. Animals have no voice. But we have a voice. And this is mine.

I went to visit the Gulf in early August with a group called "Be the Change", affiliated with Kean University where I go to school. I went with an amazing human being and professor, Norma Bowe. Eight other inspiring students came with me. Most of us had never met before, but we had one goal: to help the world in whatever way we possibly could. These students had guts. It is a privledge to now call them my friends.

We didn't go down volunteering with any organization specifically. WHY? Because you can't volunteer! (Unless you work directly for the All Mighty BP). When you google "volunteer for BP", you get directly sent to BPs website, where they lead you to believe that you can sign up, and they will then call you when you are needed. I will tell you right now, it is a phone call you will never recieve.

So, being that we did not volunteer with any specific organization, we drove 19 hours as concerned citizens. We were explorers of the devestation. We did not make appointments, we did not WAIT for someone to call us. We just - went.

The things I am about to tell you are FACTS (been there, seen it, lived it) that you will not see on the news. These are facts that Obama will not acknowledge. Non the less, they are facts. And if I am on the government hit list for what I am about to dish out, so be it.

* "It's dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."
- Voltaire

Thanks Voltaire. Here is the danger:

• We visited the Alabama Coastal Foundation. The woman we spoke with was a wonderful, caring, compassionate person about the oceans. This foundation knows the ocean like the back of their hands. Yet, BP wants no help from them.
• We woke up on a beautiful morning in New Orleans, ready to visit the "Wildlife Refuge." It had turned out that it changed locations from being in the heart of New Orleans, to a new location an hour away. Well, that didn't stop us. The only thing was that we could not find the address to this so called Refuge. Luckily enough, we had a connection to a reporter (bless her soul), who has search engines that you and I as "normal" people, do not. It even took her 40 minutes to find this disclosed location. It was not located on google, nor was it even shown in the town map. Non the less, we found it. Ha! Our GPS did not even pick up the street address. This was completley hidden from search engines. WHY?
• We find out that BP bought out search engines (google, ask.com, yahoo, etc) to hide the truth from people like me who want to disclose what is really going on. Well, tough shit. We put in the cross street, and off we went.
• Well, well, it looked like the street existed after all. After going down a discreat road of white buildings with no names on it, we find it. This building was tiny, and filled with a bunch of fancy cars that glistened the parking lot. 
• We walked in, offering to volunteer (knowing that was a joke, but to ask none the less). We were told there was nothing we could do. As I was in here, I was paying very close attention to my surroundings. The door opened as a worker came out, and I peaked my head inside. To my estimation, there were at least 60 cages: EMPTY. There were tops 20 birds there, crying. This Refuge is the headquarters for Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. Why was it so small? Where are the birds?
• It is small because there ARE no birds. The birds are dead. It is my opinion that they are euthanizing most of the birds, and attempting to save "some" for dates when the media gets to visit and report. We left discouraged and with heartache. Yet we felt triumphant. We had seen the unseen.
• We traveled 1 mile from the so called Refuge, to a Piggly Wiggly; Louisiana's supermarket. We asked the owner if he knew that there was a Refuge in his town. He said that he had absolutley no idea that it even existed. Scary. If what they are doing is such a GOOD thing, why is it so hidden? These people are 1 mile away from the HEADQUARTERS of the bird Refuge, and yet, they are clueless.
• A lot of what we did during our trip was to interview people from Alabama and Louisiana; truck drivers, store owners, everyday people. One woman had told us that she had watched the BP commercial (where they say their doing everything they can do, yada yada yada). She said it was like a photo shoot. As soon as the cameras left, as did the workers. It lasted a total of 20 minutes.
• We went to a beach in Louisiana, and we spoke to a man who was very friendly. We asked him if he thought this beach was safe. "Ah, sure it is. Look, you can't see any oil." We had a glimmer of hope. Until we find out, that the beach that this poor man said was safe and that people are swimming in, is just a disguise. BP put in a potent chemical to bring the oil from the surface, down to the ocean bed. You may not be able to see the oil, but it's there. Infact, a fisherman had found a dead fish and cut it open. He investigated the eggs of the fish. Sure enough, the eggs were filled with oil, and the chemical that hides the oil. Sickening.
• We find out that many BP workers are staying at a Holiday Inn. Off we go. Similiarly to the Refuge, this Holiday Inn was not found on google or our GPS. We found the cross road thanks to our reporter. It was set back in a shopping center not visible to the highway, and brand spankin new. It had only been open for two months. It was as if this Holiday Inn was made for them. The man at the front desk told us that BP is booked here for 3 years in 80 rooms, leaving just 10 available rooms for people like "you and me". Well, if people like you and me were able to stay here with BP, then they wouldn't have turned down Newleyweds to get married in their banquet hall. In the dining room of this Holiday Inn (which looked like a 5 star hotel, and is not known to be one), it had two quotes on the wall. One quote was: The secret to happiness isn't doing what one likes, it's liking what one does. The second quote was: The secret to success is half luck, half brains. Is it just me, or are those quotes really...uninspiring? To me, the quotes are brain washing. When a BP worker sits down to eat, and they feel bad about what their doing, all they have to do is look up at the wall that shines bright and remind themselves that the secret to happiness isn't doing what one likes. Ah, thanks for the reminder. Bon appetite.
• The last day of the trip, we went to another beach on the Gulf coast. We see three BP workers hard at work with a SHOVEL AND A ZIP LOCK BAG. There were no big ships that you see in commercials. There were no high-tech technological devices here. There were three men, with their handy dandy zip lock bags and shovels. The coast guard shows up, and takes a picture of these three men. The next week, it is on a cover of a magazine stating how CLEAN THIS BEACH IS! Well, we were there. The beach was covered in oil. Lie, lie, lie.

"With the ongoing reopening of Gulf fisheries, we're excited that fishermen can go back to work and Americans can confidently and safely enjoy Gulf seafood once again," Obama said.
HA-HA-HAAAA. Of course Americans can eat the seafood. If they want to die.

Here are some links that display the truth. Of course they are not advertised or on the news, but non the less, they exist. I encourage you to click:
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/08/oil_washes_up_on_baldwin_count.html

A Louisiana woman exposes BP:
PART 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gznb_kryit0
PART 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxH5uAK1A3g

I am not here to persuade anyone. I am here to tell you what I have seen for myself. I hope it's not as bad as I think. I hope I'm wrong. But, seeing is believing.

They aren't cleaning this up. They're covering it up. It's all about the dollar sign.
God bless the Gulf.